A new trailer for the next movie in the Fantastic Beasts series was released during San Diego Comic Con. It is a tantalizing look at what the next movie has to offer. Check it out:

The movie stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Johnny Depp as Grindelwald, Jude Law as Dumbledore, and many others. Some returning faces from Fantastic Beasts appear in the trailer, which is also nice. The Crimes of Grindelwald is due to arrive in theatres in November.

Two new trailers for upcoming DC Comics movies dropped at SDCC, and both have certainly grabbed my attention, not to mention increased my anticipation. First up, Aquaman, Jason Momoa’s first solo outing as the titular hero:

Aquaman stars Momoa, Amber Heard (Mera), Dolph Lundgren (), Patrick Wilson (Orm), Willem Dafoe, Djimon Hounsou and more. The movie was directed by James Wan, and the screenplay had input from a number of people, including Wan, Geoff Johns (who wrote the Aquaman comic for a while, and is responsible for guiding Hollywood overall around the DC universe and its characters).

And second, Shazam!, which isn’t a comic I’m familiar with, but nevertheless looks like it could be a lot of fun:

It’s been a while since I last saw Zachary Levi in anything, but I am a huge fan of Chuck, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy his part in this, too. The movie also stars Mark Strong (he of the best voice in film, and playing a bad guy again), and some younger actors I’ve never heard of before. The movie is directed by David F. Sandberg, and was written by Henry Gayden. Interestingly, Djimon Hounsou is in this one, too.

Much has been made of the gloomy Zack Snyder DC Comic movieverse, some of which I have liked and some of which I didn’t. While I am not against gloomy, gritty superhero movies (The Dark Knight, for example), and generally my issues with the DC movies have not been related to the atmosphere/texture of the movies, I am glad we’re getting some lighter fare in the coming months/years.

I read Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One in two sittings, separated only by a few hours of sleep. I loved it — it was maybe the first time I would describe a reading experience as “joyous”. I’ve been eagerly anticipating the movie ever since it was announced — even though I was a little concerned about how they might translate from page to screen. The new trailer, below, suggests that the adaptation is going to be awesome!

Warner Bros. is due to release the Steven Spielberg-directed movie in March 2018, and I can’t wait! In case you’re unfamiliar with the novel, it’s published by Arrow in the UK and Crown in North America. Here’s the synopsis:

It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS — and his massive fortune — will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions — and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

You can read my 2011 review of the novel here. I think I’m due for a re-read soon…

Save for the superb Wonder Woman movie, DC’s cinematic output hasn’t been too well received. I’ve quite enjoyed each of the movies (though, I still haven’t seen Suicide Squad), and so I’m very much looking forward to Justice League. Warner Bros. has just unveiled a teaser trailer at San Diego ComicCon, featuring a lot of Steppenwolf, some parademons, and of course the League. Here it is:

Justice League should hit theatres in November 2017. During SDCC, a new poster was also unveiled, and I couldn’t agree more with io9, it really does look like an Alex Ross painting brought to life:

As has been pointed out by quite a few commentators and fans — most recently SyFy Wire and The Mary Sue — there has been relatively very little publicity push for the upcoming WONDER WOMAN movie. Actually, a pathetic amount of marketing. Given the veritable avalanche of teasers, posters, online, television and print advertising we were subjected to in the run up to Batman vs. Superman, Suicide Squad, all of the new Star Wars movies and even less-blockbuster-offerings, the paucity of Wonder Woman advertising is puzzling. Continue reading →

Over the past couple of days, San Diego ComicCon has unveiled a typical volume of teasers, posters, trailers, etc. Two that caught my attention: a new poster for Wonder Woman (above) and the first trailer (below). I’m very much looking forward to this movie.